Franklyn Germán

Infobox MLB player


width = 150
name=Franklyn German
position=Relief pitcher
team=Chicago White Sox
number=--
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1980|1|20
birthplace=San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
debutdate=September 7
debutyear=2002
debutteam=Detroit Tigers
statyear=2008 season
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=9-7
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=4.25
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=114
teams=
*Detroit Tigers (by|2002-by|2005)
*Florida Marlins (by|2006)
*Texas Rangers (by|2008)

Franklyn Miguel Germán Madé (born January 20, 1980 in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic) is a right-handed relief pitcher in the Chicago White Sox organization. He is a particularly large man for a pitcher, standing 6 ft 7 in (2.04 m) tall and weighing 298 lb, which lends him a degree of batter intimidation, like most taller-than-average pitchers possess.

His pitch arsenal includes a blazing, 100+ mph fastball, and a very effective offspeed pitch due to his large stature. He works mostly in middle relief and sometimes as a set-up man for the team's closer, although many baseball pundits expect that he'll become a closer himself within the next few seasons.

Early career

Germán was acquired by the Detroit Tigers on July 5, mlby|2002, in a three-team trade between the Tigers, Oakland Athletics, and New York Yankees. Germán, first baseman Carlos Peña, and pitcher Jeremy Bonderman were traded by Oakland to Detroit in exchange for pitcher Jeff Weaver, whom Oakland then traded to New York for pitcher Ted Lilly, outfielder John-Ford Griffin, and minor league pitcher Jason Arnold. Germán never played for Oakland, though he did spend mlby|1997-2002 in their rookie league, SIngle-A, and Double-A minor league affiliates before being traded.

During his rookie season (mlby|2003), he was known for his questionable ability to get batters out and as a result was generally unpopular with Detroit Tigers fans. Accordingly, he was subject to large amounts of criticism from the long-suffering Tigers fans, who at the time hadn't seen their team finish with a winning record since mlby|1993.

Current career

Germán's inconsistency on the mound was in contrast to the Tigers' two primary starters at the time, Bonderman and lefty Mike Maroth, who were regarded to possess Major League talent, but frequently suffered from insufficient run support on a team in the midst of having the worst season in American League history—that year, the Tigers set a new record for total losses (119), eclipsing the previous record (117) held by the mlby|1916 Philadelphia Athletics. After spending much of the mlby|2004 season on the Tigers' Triple-A minor league team, the Toledo Mud Hens, his form on the mound improved greatly, and he made the Tigers' by|2005 opening day roster.

After a mediocre spring training in mlby|2006, the Tigers left Germán unprotected on the waiver wire by designating him for another assignment to Toledo. He didn't clear waivers, however, and on April 4, 2006, he was claimed off waivers by the Florida Marlins, and earned a spot on their opening day roster.

Germán became a free agent after the 2006 season, and on November 17, 2006, signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.

Germán pitched in the Rangers mlby|2008 season opener against the Seattle Mariners on March 31, 2008. It was the first time Germán had pitched outside the minors since 2006. He was designated for assignment by the Rangers on May 21, 2008, and on May 30 declined a minor-league assignment and became a free agent.

On June 4, 2008, Germán signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox on August 11, and assigned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Personal life

Germán is married and has one child with his wife, Luisa. They spend their off-seasons residing in Palenque, Dominican Republic

Germán usually plays for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter Baseball League, and played for the World Team during the 2002 All-Star Futures Game, which was won, 5-1, by the World Team.

"Germán" is pronounced using the soft Spanish G, making his surname sound like "Hairmon" when spoken. His Marlins uniform did not include the accent mark over the "a", so many spectators unaware of the mechanics of the Spanish language refer to him as "German", as if referring to someone from Germany.

External links

*
* [http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061117&content_id=1742670&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex: Franklyn German inks a minor league deal with Rangers]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=5341 ESPN.com: Franklyn Germán]
* [http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=407883 Florida Marlins: Player Information - Franklyn Germán]
* [http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/teams/players/bio/?id=2829&hubname=mlb TSN.ca: MLB: Franklyn Germán]